


Fighting Frightningale (Alternate Cut)

by Word_Devourer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: But hopefully better than the original version, Copious amounts of rhyming, F/M, Frightningale - Freeform, Gen, Improved Rhyming, music video, redux, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 06:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15091388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Word_Devourer/pseuds/Word_Devourer
Summary: Does it make sense for two 14-year-old superheroes to be able to speak well in rhyme, in combat?  No.Then again, who ever said this show made perfect sense?Did our heroes attempts at rhyming while fighting Frighteningale bother you?  If so, then this is the fic for you; a short redux of the fight, now with improved rhyming and marginally improved meter, a more difficult villain, and a better use of that Lucky Charm (Seriously, right hand to left hand had no right to help anyone).Also included is a small but notable increase in Ladynoir in comparison to the original episode.





	Fighting Frightningale (Alternate Cut)

**Author's Note:**

> We begin the fight outside, as Ladybug and Cat Noir are hit by the whip that makes them sing and dance, or else face petrification.

 

The line of light lashed through her, and she felt an unnatural sensation through her body.  Cat Noir had taken a strike just like it, and was surrounded by a strange halo of light.  
“Oh, that’s not good,” she said.  
There was a half a second, of silence, and suddenly she could feel something forming on her skin.  
Right!  Right.  Rhyming lines.  
“But lemme just knock on wood,” she tacked on.  The sensation receded, but she could feel her feet beginning to-  
She began to take slow steps, rhythmic, technically a dance.  Forward, backward, forward, backward.  Alright.  Cat Noir joined the motion.  
The shadow that had formed across Frighteningale’s face, probably Hawkmoth unable to resist gloating, receded, and she looked back down at the two of them.  
“Oh, and now you dance, and rhyme!  Such bliss, / and do it well, as if nought’s amiss!”  
Alright, she wanted some rhymes?  Ladybug could rhyme.  She pulled the yo-yo, and started it spinning in rhythm with her steps.  
“I hate your challenge, but I’ll sally forth / I’d ask to stop, but what’s the worth?”  
“True, the chance you want’s not one I give / so you’ll dance and sing if you want to live!”  
Cat Noir looked over, his own weapon out.  
“This motion is a tricky thing / the fighting’s hard while I dance and sing.”  
“Then worry just upon the one / stop speaking ‘til the fight is done.”  
The villain assaulted them, microphone-whip slashing wildly, and Ladybug dove to the side.  
“So should I, then, stop up my lungs / and act as if…” she could hear the wink, even if she couldn’t see his face, “cat’s got my tongue?”  
“Really!  You’re doing puns?”  …  Wait, she had it, “Keep doing that, I’ll be undone.”  
“Oh rhyme’s a cinch whene’er you’re me / my tongue is loose, and rhymes flow free. / But fighting still eludes my reach, / how does one dance and fight, please teach!”  
“But Cat Noir, just thinking back, / I thought you’d learned a dance attack,”  A dodge again, but she was beginning to get the hang of this.  All she had to do was keep her body light.  If she dodged instead of blocking, she could keep the rhythm going.  A wide swing of the yo-yo, round, one, two, regular as a metronome.  
“Oh!” he exclaimed, and she hoped he wouldn’t have to rhyme it.  “I thought it through, now I recall, / my Capoeira should make her fall!”  And just like that… Ooh,  that was slick maneuvering.  Definitely looked like a dance.  
Just like that, the momentum of the fight shifted.  
“Well, Cat Noir, I must say this-  
“That after this fight, I’m owed a kiss?”  He winked again, and she tried to channel the little irritation that caused into the fight.  
“Oh please, come on, I didn’t say that-  
“Sure, but you threw while I’m up to bat!” he finished.  
There was no freezing from that?  Huh.  
“So rhymes are fine if swapped across?”  
“So I’ll call on you, when I’m at a loss.”  
The villain was well and truly on the retreat, now, back into the hall where the fight had begun.  
\--  
Hawkmoth was grinning.  
“They think it’s done / They think they’ve won / But no, the fight has just begun! / Now Frighteningale, make strong the strife, / and bring the frozen ones to life!”  
Frighteningale backed up, and glanced around.  There they all were, everyone she’d frozen so far, all ready for the right moment.  Her moment.  
\--  
Ladybug and Cat Noir couldn’t move at a full run, simply because sprinting and dancing were mutually exclusive, but they’d still made it most of the way into the building, right near the middle, when she kicked back her head, and in an amplified voice called out melodically-  
“Like a thousand stones, come piling / For when they’re crushed, I’ll be smiling / Destroy them now, give them no chance / For I say _fight_ , and I say _dance_!”  
Cat Noir nudged her.  “If only she’d rhymed it with romance.”  
“I know she just rhymed it, but not a chance.  Now we’re surrounded, so back to back / For soon’s the time when they’re sure to attack.”  
There was a whistling in the air as the villain spun the microphone in her hand, setting the cord whirling, and then, _crack_.  The whip came down, and nothing seemed to happen.  Another _crack_ , and from above, a thousand dazzling lights suddenly made the room shine almost unbearably bright, and every frozen figure in the room jerked upright.  Whistle, and _crack_.  The figures, as one, spun towards the heroes.  
Frighteningale snapped, and brought down the microphone.  The sound didn’t stop, though.  In the empty silence of a room of puppets ready to dance, the air itself seemed to whistle, and let out a _crack_.  The two heroes turned, slow as the figures in a music box, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  
One figure got a bit close, and Ladybug flicked out her wrist, and it fell back as the yo-yo landed.  
With every beat, Frighteningale stepped closer.  “The dance?  A bore.  The beat too slow / but how to amp it up I know / just watch this move, it’s quite a feat / from empty air, I call the beat!”  
A strange, thudding beat began, four between every whipcrack.  
“That’s just the start, for I’m far from done / This music’s riff has just begun!”  
The music zombies had accelerated their pace appropriate with the beat.  The two heroes suddenly found themselves set upon by… Not _fast_ enemies, but there were a lot of them.  Strangely, though, even as every beat brought the horde in closer, it brought their motions with it.  They weren’t swaying to an imagined beat anymore; they were moving to a beat as concussive as each attack they threw.  
\--  
Hawkmoth grumbled, barely audibly.  This wouldn’t do, “They never tire, that tack’s for nought / They’ll fight until they’ve all been fought / You need to _win_ me what I’ve bought.”  
The melody finally kicked in.  
“Their jewelry will soon be yours / Distracting them can open doors.”  
\--  
Being a hero was supposed to be a serious job, and it was.  Certainly, they were dedicated to their cause, but Cat Noir couldn’t help a hint of happiness at the circumstances; a dance fight, with, he had to admit, a good musical backing (Clara Nightingale was popular for a reason).  There was no denying that he was doing well, too.  Figures slammed back into the crowd with every motion, choking the slowly increasing onslaught of enemies.  This was certainly more fun than dancing in the music video; here, he really _was_ Cat Noir, and it didn’t matter who knew it.  
Better still, he thought, unable to stifle a smile, he was back to back with Ladybug, and he could feel the rhythm of her motion, perfectly in sync with his.  
And then things slipped.

He should have known that if they could handle the dancers, there’d be something else to follow.  There was always something else with Hawkmoth.  
In this case, that something was Frighteningale herself making a titanic leap over the entire crowd and almost landing on his head.  He dodged, and realized a second too late that Ladybug was right behind him.  Ladybug staggered forward into the crowd as the feet slammed into her back.  Frighteningale bounced back, flipping and landing behind her.  The dancers were upon Ladybug almost instantly, and Frighteningale took that as good enough, turning to face him.  
“Your friend’s been handled, Kitty-cat / next, I’ll take your ring, and that’ll be that.”  
He rose up, ignoring the dancers, launching himself at her.  
He should have expected her to _dance_ around him, both literally and figuratively, but somehow, it still surprised him when she simply _was not_ where he was.  A wild swing behind him, and he felt something, but not a proper strike.  
No.  No, he had to get her.  
He managed to get her back in sight, and just kept coming.  Except he didn’t.  He’d only made just stepped forward, before he heard a call behind him.  
“Help me Cat Noir!”  That tone, in _her_ voice, felt like a hot spike in his stomach.  There was no refusing the request.  Never.  
\--  
She jerked her head, trying to keep the hands away from her earrings.  Then her heart froze, even as her feet did, as she realized that she hadn’t made a rhyme for her last statement.  No.  No, no, no, what rhymed with ‘Noir’?  
There was a horrific sound as the shoes of the Noir in question grated on the floor, his momentum abruptly reversing.  Then, up he came, flipping back into the crowd, aiming right for her.  Her eyes shut, involuntarily, as he descended on her.  Then, a _smash_ , and every hand on her was suddenly gone.  
Hey eyes opened, and he was mere inches from her face.  She could see fear in his eyes, but then he smiled, eyes shining as if he was about to cry, and said in a whisper, “It’s fine, milady.  I’m never far.”  
The freezing in her feet receded and vanished, but suddenly she couldn’t breathe.  She still couldn’t breathe as he stood up, and it was only when she took his proffered hand and rose to her feet that her lungs remembered to do their job.  
“Waste no more time, let’s go for broke,” he said, “This villainess is not a joke.”  
“I’ve got it Cat Noir, no need for alarm,” she said, trying to pull herself back to normal with a grin, “Not when I’ve got my-  
“Lucky Charm!”  
Well, whatever it was, he needed to buy her time, and the most surefire way to do that was to knock back the villain’s minions.  
But then, why was she so quiet?  
“Is something wrong-  
“No, nought’s amiss / I just can’t tell what to _do_ with this.”  
“Well tell me soon, if you figure it out / of course, you _will_ , I have no doubt.”  
Something clinked in her hands as she spun it, trying to keep the rhythm going.  
Eventually, she spoke.  “I have it now.  There’s one way through” There was a click, and then something cold touched his left wrist, and another click.  “We fight together, me and you.”  
He turned, and saw a set of handcuffs, tying their left wrists together.  He gave her a wordless look.  She nodded, and grabbed onto his wrist.  “Together,” she said.  
“Forever.”  He grabbed onto hers.  
The weight balanced.  The motion balanced.  _They_ balanced.  It started slowly, each of them fighting, almost separately, to keep the horde away.  Then, the momentum began to build, and they began to spin faster.  
\--  
Frighteningale was, despite herself, surprised.  They moved together better than she’d ever have surmised.  In fact, the crowd was already getting forced back far enough to make her worry.  They were fast enough that to catch them now, she’d really have to hurry.  
And so pulled her whip, just as she saw Ladybug’s yo-yo flip out.  
The yo-yo caught, and the pair launched, still spinning all about.  
So that was their plan?  Fly through the air?  Well, they’d have a time maneuvering up there.  She cracked out the whip, and with a twist, snagged it around Cat Noir’s wrist.  A yank, and down they went.  However strong they were, that was sure to leave a dent.  
But just then something happened, a sacrifice by the hero in black.  He pushed her on, and took the fall, a force to make bones crack.  Then _she_ caught ground, and gave a _wrench_ , and up came Cat Noir.  Though out of breath (he had to be), he was strong, as heroes are; he took the lead, for just a bit, and just to pull her on, and back and forth positions went, as if each was the other’s pawn.  
And Frighteningale couldn’t help but stare, at the flipping, spinning pair.  And how was one to fight them both?  How would one even dare?  
But her charge was her charge, and she had no way to duck.  So she stepped with the beat, as she faced defeat, and softly muttered-  
\--  
As his feet whipped across the villain, Cat Noir discovered that it _did_ in fact feel strange to be used as a human weapon.  Then, his feet hit ground, and it was already time to return the favor.  
Sure, he couldn’t see his enemy, but Ladybug could, and that was all he needed.  He pulled, and she leapt forward with a speed that neither of them could have managed alone.  
He could feel the shudder all the way through her as her fist made contact.  He twisted, as she pulled him on.  
It was almost too easy.  Frighteningale was standing there, hands shielding her face, barely holding onto the microphone.  
Well, far be it from him to complain about an easy target.  
One well-placed kick sent it skyward, up, up, and-  
“Catch!”  
-over his head.  
“Nice one, Cat Noir!”  
He could hear the object slap into her hand, and then the familiar crackle of an Akumatized object fracturing.  
Frighteningale had fallen back as he’d knocked the microphone from her hand, and was quickly replaced by a thoroughly confused Clara Nightingale.  
That ‘Catch!’ was coming back to haunt him, though, as his feet slowly began to freeze into that same material as all of the other statues.  
Come to think of it, hadn’t Ladybug responded?  
His legs wouldn’t cooperate, but he still spun to look at her, even as he felt the cuffs coming off.  
The yo-yo was frozen, at the furthest point in its arc, just where it would have caught the Akuma, caught, just like he was about to be.  
The freezing had reached his chest, as with the only part of her still free, Ladybug tossed the cuffs skyward, and called out ‘Miraculous Ladybug!’  
His eyes froze over, but a bare instant later, he could see again.  
The cloud of restorative energy revived the two of them first; then, his eyes followed a tiny contingent of it the zipped down the length of the yo-yo, which, with a strange momentum, suddenly started moving again.  The cloud spread further, bringing back every frozen figure as she caught it.  Then, as it finally reached the bounds of Frighteningale’s damage, he finally heard her say, just like always, ‘Bye-bye, little butterfly!’  
In the new silence, they stood there, watching the butterfly slowly flap away.  
The crowd applauded, and Clara stood up.  
“Hello you two!  I’m such a fan,” she seemed about to say something, and then her smile faded, and she said, “I’m sorry I was caught up in Hawkmoth’s evil plan.”  
“It’s okay ma’am.  Hawkmoth can prey on _anyone_.”  
“And it’s hard to stop villainy, once you’ve begun.”  
Ladybug looked up from Clara, and looked halfway over to him.  “We don’t have to rhyme anymore, Cat Noir.”  
He let out a huff.  “Well speak for yourself, nearly getting frozen left a bit of a scar.”  
“You’re still doing it, aren’t you.”  
He shrugged.  “I admit it, it’s true.”  
Clara laughed, a musical sound.  “Well, we can’t film, and that’s a shame, but I’m proud to be saved by heroes of such acclaim.”  
“Miss Nightingale?” came a call from some way away, “Actually, I think everyone should see this.”  
“Sorry,” said Ladybug, “But I really ought to go.”  
“Same here,” said Cat Noir, “Hero stuff, you know.”  
\--  
Ladybug barely made it out of the building before setting down, and…  
“Spots off.”  
She didn’t hear another voice, a bare distance out of sight, saying ‘Claws in,’ and she didn’t hear the crackle of a superhero costume disintegrating.  
What she _did_ see was Adrien Agreste, stepping out from around a corner, muttering something to himself.  He was still wearing the Cat Noir costume, still so well crafted that for a bare instant, she almost would’ve mistaken him for the real thing.  
He saw her, and stopped in his tracks.  Then he shook his head, and smiled.  “Hey, Marinette.”  
She felt the eternal edge of speechlessness that he always brought with him, but forced it down, and managed to smile.  “Hi!” she squeaked out.  Well, she _half_ forced it down.  
“I guess you managed to avoid the villain, too?”  
“Ha ha!  Yeah…!”  she said.  
He didn’t seem to notice her… Everything, any of the things she was unable to stop herself doing around him.  “Guess we should probably head back in?”  
Half of her was relieved.  She wouldn’t walk back in alone, in a Ladybug costume.  She’d have the set, both of them.  Somehow, having just Ladybug walk back into the room would seem more incriminating than if she brought a Cat Noir with her, especially if that Cat Noir was Adrien Agreste.  After all, a hero walking back in, in their own fake costume, might just be unnaturally good casting, but the idea of both heroes walking out, and then immediately walking back in… It was almost laughable, and if it wasn’t both of them, then which of them was it?  No, much more likely it was neither.

At least, she hoped that was what she _hoped_ they would think.  
They walked back in, side by side, masks off.  Actually, she really didn’t know where her mask was, but if Adrien didn’t have his on, surely it wouldn’t matter that hers was missing, too.  
“I’m sorry, Mr. Agreste, this has really been fun, but with all of this footage, the filming’s already done!”  
Footage?  
Nightingale noticed them walking in.  
“Our Ladybug and Cat Noir!  I’m sorry, but we might not need our stars.”  
“What do you mean?” asked Marinette.  
“We already have the footage, a proper wealth.  Just take a look, and see for yourself.”  
She gestured over at the video-camera that had been trained on the stage.  The two of them maneuvered around the side, and looked at the built-in screen.  The perspective was from above, and the video opened with a familiar whipcrack.  Then, another whipcrack, and the lights suddenly flashed on.  Down below, barely in frame, she could just make out the edge of two figures, one in black, and the other in red, surrounded by frozen figures.  
There was no denying what it was.  
“As far as we can tell,” said the man sitting behind the camera, “there are about 50 different perspectives of the fight, all saved onto one camera.  
“And the music it’s playing, if you listen close, is the music that I’d planned to post.”  
“So…  They’re already in your video, I guess,” said Marinette.  
Adrien, laughed, next to her.  “I mean look at them move!  I’d say that’s a _yes_.”  
Marinette laughed along, and then mentally reviewed the last two statements.  She looked over at Adrien, still chuckling.  She shook off the strange feeling.  Coincidence, surely.

Still, if nothing else, at least now she'd escaped the dangers of having to wear the mask in the video.

**Author's Note:**

> I particularly wanted to redo this fight because their attempts to keep the rhymes going bothered me. So I made this. Please, do let me know if this seemed like an improvement over the original cut.
> 
> In other news, Frighteningale's narration was a bit of a headache, but worth it.


End file.
